Global extinction worse than expected
- added May 16, 2008
- 37 responses
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- stone246
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Species are dying out at a rate not seen since the demise of the dinosaurs, according to a report published today – and human behaviour is to blame. Emily Dugan counts the cost. The world's species are declining at a rate "unprecedented since the extinction of the dinosaurs", a census of the animal kingdom has revealed. The Living Planet Index out today shows the devastating impact of humanity as biodiversity has plummeted by almost a third in the 35 years to 2005.
The report, produced by WWF, the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) and the Global Footprint Network, says land species have declined by 25 per cent, marine life by 28 per cent, and freshwater species by 29 per cent. Scientists say the current extinction rate is now up to 10,000 times faster than what has historically been recorded as normal.
As nations meet for the Convention on Biological Diversity in Bonn, these alarming figures will cast a shadow over government pledges to make a "significant" reduction in biodiversity loss by 2010. In fact, the report's authors say that global inaction has already made such a goal totally unattainable.
"It's very damning for the governments that are party to the convention that they are not able to meet the target they set for themselves," said Mr Loh. "The talk doesn't get translated into action. We are failing, and the consequences will be devastating."
Tracking nearly 4,000 species between 1970 and 2005, the team has not only revealed the destruction of the Earth's wildlife, but also pointed the finger at the perpetrators of this devastation. Ben Collen, extinctions researcher at ZSL, said: "Between 1960 and 2000, the human population of the world has doubled. Yet during the same period, the animal populations have declined by 30 per cent. It's beyond doubt that this decline has been caused by humans."
The study picked out five reasons for species decline, all of which can be traced back to human behaviour: climate change, pollution, the destruction of animals' natural habitat, the spread of invasive species, and the overexploitation of species. At a time when America has finally added the polar bear to the endangered species list, it is emerging that the scale of species destruction reaches far beyond the headline animals. But as in the case of the polar bear, mankind's behaviour needs to be radically changed in order to stop this pillaging of the Earth's biodiversity.
Credit: Independent.co.uk
The report, produced by WWF, the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) and the Global Footprint Network, says land species have declined by 25 per cent, marine life by 28 per cent, and freshwater species by 29 per cent. Scientists say the current extinction rate is now up to 10,000 times faster than what has historically been recorded as normal.
As nations meet for the Convention on Biological Diversity in Bonn, these alarming figures will cast a shadow over government pledges to make a "significant" reduction in biodiversity loss by 2010. In fact, the report's authors say that global inaction has already made such a goal totally unattainable.
"It's very damning for the governments that are party to the convention that they are not able to meet the target they set for themselves," said Mr Loh. "The talk doesn't get translated into action. We are failing, and the consequences will be devastating."
Tracking nearly 4,000 species between 1970 and 2005, the team has not only revealed the destruction of the Earth's wildlife, but also pointed the finger at the perpetrators of this devastation. Ben Collen, extinctions researcher at ZSL, said: "Between 1960 and 2000, the human population of the world has doubled. Yet during the same period, the animal populations have declined by 30 per cent. It's beyond doubt that this decline has been caused by humans."
The study picked out five reasons for species decline, all of which can be traced back to human behaviour: climate change, pollution, the destruction of animals' natural habitat, the spread of invasive species, and the overexploitation of species. At a time when America has finally added the polar bear to the endangered species list, it is emerging that the scale of species destruction reaches far beyond the headline animals. But as in the case of the polar bear, mankind's behaviour needs to be radically changed in order to stop this pillaging of the Earth's biodiversity.
Credit: Independent.co.uk
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It's not just sad that species are going extinct at an unprecedented rate. This has effects on our lives too. According to this post, extinction poses a threat to medical science. New treatments are often developed as a result from studying other creatures in nature. The loss of species and destruction of biodiversity could prohibit new generations of medical treatments. -
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Dont people believe in evolution?? In fate??
I'm more than happy to help these animals out and i agree there is stuff that can be done. Species die out all the time :S the dinosuars died out all at once, at least we havent done that! Everything that's meant to be, will work out fine :) -
I think the point is that what would be the normal rate of evolution is in fact accelerated, likely as a result of human behaviour. And that is why it is a bigger issue.
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So much of this is a result of habitat desctruction, exploitation and introduction of invasive species. We need to step up our responsibility. As the most dominant species, I think we have a responsibility to protect other species from extinction due to human impact.
Can you imagine if a species evolved superior to us and treated our habitat and species with the same lack of care and respect? -
Acting as though the extinction of other species has nothing on us seems like suicidal behavior. We can just sit back in our lawn chairs and watch it happen, but we'll keep on going endlessly. There seems to be a mass delusion going on. Our human narcissism is truly doing harm.
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If this doesn't convince those critics nothing will
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... in which case those critics need to be blasted to the moon. this is so ..... i'm so fucking angry.
oh ignorance... oh greed....
and Bush wants to construct new coal power plants.
how to penetrate the ignorance? How to get people to WAK EHT FVUCK UP????-
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- stephenthomson
- 1 month ago
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The troubling thing to me is all of the immensely disturbing predictions in regards to global warming are being dwarfed by the reality of the situation in most scenarios. And sadly people still turn a blind eye...
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There is only one way to stop this now - exterminate humans!
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- RossSlater
- 1 month ago
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In the overarching scheme of things, human society is a plague, and a destructive force for the planet. We may be smart enough to realize it, but our appetite for growth greatly outstrips this planet's resources.
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YAY the world is ending!! Finally. Then I can leave this place, get back to my spaceship and go to my home planet.
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Joe Leo, you are actually incorrect. Fossil records for the 'extinction period', NOT extinction event, of the dinosaur collapse reveals that the extinction rate was occuring far slower than current rates of extinction.
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bejamin, normally I would take issue with the "we are a virus" approach. But an important distinction you've made that I agree with is that of us v. our society.
I dont think humans are cancers, but our society seems to act cancerously/virally. We need to be white blood cells for the societal organism. however that works.-
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- stephenthomson
- 1 month ago
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"however that works."
If we were to truly act as white blood cells, we'd end up killing a whole hell of a lot of people...
When enough people are thinking in the same way, it becomes exponentially harder to convince them to do a 180. Particularly because they are feeding/ drawing strength from one another. The whole herd mentality thing.
At least, that's the impression I have.
I agree that people are not viruses; with the right society/ value system/ knowledge, we can very well become an unfathomably beneficial force for our planet. And the other way around, of course, as we all know and see every day.
Overall, it is indeed the societies that cause the harm.
At the same time, the sheer number of people on earth is hurting the rest of the planet - at the same time inserting that much more ignorance into the "overmind," making it that much harder to change things...which brings things around to the first paragraph...I must stop trying to communicate complex ideas just after my Friday afternoon break. -
We need to put A LOT towards space exploration, otherwise the life on this planet is not gonig to last much longer.
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The force that creates life will do just fine. The diversity of Earth's plants and animals on the other hand will get scaled back hardcore.
And we're next.
"Take your iPod headphones off because I think the butcher just called your number."-
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- kramericus
- 1 month ago
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What Charles Darwin said: "Survival of the Fittest."
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- pogschampion
- 1 month ago
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I watch the news about the possible loss of animals like Tigers and Dolphins. TIGERS and DOLPHINS, for God's sake! I'm left feeling like the masses are playing a roll in letting down the Earth at it's most vulnerable time. Murdering on a scale once thought impossible.
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The good news is we can bring these species back at any time with the advanced technology of cloning. The bad news is, the environmentalists, which is a front for the quack science of eugenics, want YOU dead, and there will be no cloning to bring you back.
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Well. will it be just simpler to i don't know find better ways to share the planet with the animals.
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Humans are more or less like any other animal. Populations will adjust themselves. Life will continue. There are organisms that live inside granite with no light.
As far as vigilanteism read David Brin's "Earth". It's a clear eye-opener (not to mention a fun sci-fi read) -
NO DOUBT!
The human animal can now live a life time with AIDS.
Sick individuals should not have a right compared to the simple struggles of food. Animals are just looking for a home and food, not money and stuff. -
So, if the polar bear numbers have gone from 5,000 to 25,000 -- why were they placed on the endangered species list?
Whatever it takes to keep us from drilling for more oil, huh? -
This is disturbing...
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Not the peacock! It's so pretty... ;_;
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- MissJonaLyn
- 1 month ago
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we are destroying the environment.
how well does that resonate when you say it to yourself?
they are words we've heard so often, i think I feel somewhat desensitized.
we are - disrupting, crushing, exploding, with the ease of a swatted fly; dismembering in pieces of, as a sadistic child indulges of a spider- - the graceful balance of our fleeting airy flight and the web of our existence. -
Our mother earth is hurting so bad! Are we so ignorant to not see that we are all connected? Populations and extinction are forever entertwined. When one wanes it is a trajedy in this day and age. We stand to lose more than species of the animal kingdom if we turn a blind eye to what is happening to this earth!
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As bad as it is, we are gonig to end up ending all life on this planet, unless we can change our ways, which doesnt seem likely. We really need to focus on space colonization, otherwise humans are going to eventually be on the endangered list.
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dude, i dont think we're ready for space colonies.
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- stephenthomson
- 1 month ago
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dmass
This is not a video game, buddy! -
Heh, heh... we're kidding ourselves here. All life can't be extinguished on this planet until our sun goes supernova. Even all the nukes going off at once wouldn't destroy all life.
The earth has been around for 4.5 billion years and life has been around for 3 billion years of that. Mass species extinctions have occurred many times. The earth has had a history of continuous and violent upheaval. Take a biology class.
To quote from Jurassic Park, "The planet is not in jeopardy, humans are in jeopardy. We haven't got the power to destroy our planet - or to save it. But we may have the power to save ourselves." -
Despite the fact that there are 6 BILLION humans on the planet we are (or at least should be) on the list of possibly extinct creatures. We're certainly doing a bang up job making life on Earth nearly impossible for every kind of creature - except cock roaches.
If nothing else, we'll starve once we've killed all of the bees and other pollinators. This, combined with climate change, will leave us all in very deep doo-doo before we know it...
Don't forget to fill the gas tank of that Escalade...and then drive the 2 blocks to the store or Post Office... several times a day... -
Gee, clayj05, I don't believe I made any reference to W in my comment regarding the extinction topic. But, now that you mention it...
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We had better do a damn better job with the time we have left before the Earth's magnetic field reverses.
Just something else to consider. -
Humans are terrorist.
No one can win against terror.
Yes, earth is powerful but think of common sense. -
It's the so-called leader of the powerful countries, who are pushed by greedy entities, i.e. wealthy families & corporations, that block actions and means to keep this planet clean & sustainable.
It's like being pulled down by the spiral downward vicious cycle caused by capitalism/consumerism. Just wait a few more years when the pollution in China is going to wipe the last pristine meadows and forests from the face of this earth. This planet will indeed become hell.-
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- precurser4t
- 1 month ago
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